This invention relates to welding and more particularly to large scale welding operations.
Welding is widely employed in many industries as a ready and efficient means of positively and permanently joining metallic members to form a composite metallic structure. However, welding operations inherently generate large quantities of welding fumes which pose health problems for the welders. Specifically, even though a welder typically wears a customized protective helmet, the fumes generated at the weld location arise upwardly, enter the helmet, and thereby enter the respiratory and vision zones of the welder. The fumes within the helmet are extremely irritating to the welder, requiring frequent relief periods for the welder with consequent losses in productivity, and further, on a longer time frame, can cause serious illness to the welder. Whereas various attempts have been made in the past to address these irritation and health problems, the prior art attempts have not successfully addressed the fume removal requirements of large scale welding operations.